MUMBAI, Feb 19 (NNN-PTI) – India has opened a biosafety level-3 (BSL-3) mobile laboratory, to facilitate early detection and quick containment of highly infectious pathogens during outbreaks, a statement by the country’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said yesterday.
In view of repeated outbreaks of highly infectious pathogens like Nipah, Zika, Avian influenza and now COVID-19, the mobile laboratory, the first in the country, is critical to be able to detect the emerging epidemics/pandemics at a very early stage, the ministry’s statement said.
The mobile Lab in Nashik, 167 km from Mumbai, will help in real-time data collection and prevent further spread of any emerging viral infections, said Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Bharati Pravin Pawar, at the inauguration of the laboratory.
The need for such lab was felt during the Nipah virus outbreak, in the country’s southern state of Kerala, and samples had to be transported to the National Institute of Virology located in Pune, in the western state of Maharashtra, said Balram Bhargav, director-general of Indian Council of Medical Research, the apex body in India for the formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research.
“Such mobile Laboratories can be stationed at different regions of the country and may be mobilised in case of sudden outbreaks,” Bhargav said at the inauguration.
Built at a cost of about 3.35 million U.S. dollars, the self-sufficient laboratory is airtight, access-controlled, bio decontaminable, fitted with safe change HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Absorbing) filtration and biological liquid waste decontamination system.
The lab is controlled through an intelligent control automation system, which maintains the working environment under negative air pressure, the statement said.– NNN-PTI
